On Baseball; Simple Twist of Fate Changed Torborg's Life, and It Helped Save the Life of a Little Boy

By MURRAY CHASS

Published: March 7, 2004

TAMPA, Fla.—
JEFF TORBORG posed this quandary:

''Can you imagine if someone had said in May you have a chance to take this team to the World Series and beat the Yankees or save a child's life?''

Torborg referred to his position as manager of the Florida Marlins until last May 10, when his good friend Jeffrey Loria, the Marlins' owner, fired him. Jack McKeon replaced Torborg, and the Marlins went to the playoffs as the National League wild-card team and defeated the Yankees in the World Series.

Yet, even if Torborg had been guaranteed the same outcome but was given the alternative he also referred to, ''There's no question what the decision would be.''

Tommy Green and his family will be forever thankful that the Marlins fired Torborg. Not that they have anything against Torborg, a former catcher, but if he had continued to manage the Marlins, he would not have been at his summer home at the Jersey Shore that day last September when 2-year-old Tommy fell off a dock and into the water with no one else around.

Tommy is alive today because Torborg was there, not with the Marlins.

''Susie and I were painting our dock,'' Torborg said. ''I was on a ladder and had my back to the water. It was a very windy day. I said to Susie: 'I just heard something. I think little Tommy Green fell off the dock.' ''

The dock was three docks away, about 80 yards, Torborg said. He quickly climbed down from the ladder, ran toward the Greens' dock and leaped a fence. A Chesapeake retriever blocked Torborg's way, attacking him. Torborg saw the little boy floundering in the water, but he could not get past the dog until he leaped another fence.

He also spotted a young man nearby working on a car and yelled for him to help, and together they rescued Tommy.

''He wasn't breathing, and his stomach was full of water,'' Torborg said. But another bystander, a nurse as it turned out, was able to revive the boy and get the water out.

''Susie and I went home, and our son Dale called,'' Torborg said. Dale, who had been the Marlins' strength coach, had also been fired. ''He said: 'Hey, Dad, that's one of the reasons you're not managing. You were meant to be there for the little kid.' ''

Torborg does not hold grudges. Others might wonder what kind of person fires a friend, but Torborg accepted Loria's move as a baseball decision.

''There was no bitterness,'' said Torborg, who had previously managed Cleveland, the White Sox, the Mets and Montreal. ''I was thrilled that those kids won.''

Torborg, who said he had probably managed for the last time, recalled that he and his wife stayed at the Jersey Shore until October.

''When we got home, I unpacked my attaché case, which I had not done after I was fired,'' he said. ''I looked at my notes from my first meeting with the guys. I said if we stayed healthy, I think we can win. I said we could win 12 to 14 more than the year before when we had 140 days of pitchers on the disabled list.''

The Marlins made a prophet of Torborg, raising their victory total from 79 to 91, but he was around for only 16 of those victories. He was also around for more pitching injuries, losing A. J. Burnett, Josh Beckett and Mark Redman in the space of two weeks.

It was bittersweet for Torborg when the Marlins brought up Dontrelle Willis the day before he was fired.

''I wanted Dontrelle out of spring training,'' Torborg, a good judge of pitchers, said. ''They said: 'He doesn't have an inning in spring training. We don't want to give him to you.' ''

The Marlins opted to have Willis start in the minors, the prevailing baseball thinking went at the time, to keep him from salary arbitration eligibility for an extra year.

Before Willis was called to the majors May 9, the Marlins tried another rookie. ''When we got the first two pitchers hurt, they sent me Justin Wayne,'' Torborg said. ''He wasn't ready.'' Wayne lost his only two starts, failing to get an out in the second start.

But the Marlins did not make many wrong moves the rest of the season as Torborg kept close watch on his former players. He visited them in Philadelphia in mid-September, the night after the Phillies beat them, 14-0.

''To watch them go on and win was great,'' he said. ''They kept calling me, coaches and players. One night they called and said, 'We toasted you tonight.' It was an amazing story.''

Biggio: View Away From Home

The latest player to check in on Alex Rodriguez's change from shortstop to third base said he would have a learning curve, but nothing like his. His first switch, that is.

''I went from catcher to second base; that was kind of nightmarish,'' Craig Biggio said. ''It was something you couldn't really fathom. I had caught pretty much my whole life. Then I went out there. The hardest thing I ever did in my life was going from catcher to second base.''

As a catcher, Biggio explained, ''Everything is going away from you.''

''As a second baseman, balls are coming at me, balls are coming past my head,'' he added. ''Where do I have to go, where do I have to be? A catcher runs down the baseline. You knew where everybody had to go. But now at second you have a responsibility to go somewhere. You had to think about so many things.''

After serving as the Houston Astros' catcher for his first four seasons, Biggio became their second baseman in 1992. Eleven seasons later, last year, he became their center fielder.

''Center was fine,'' he said. ''It was difficult. You have to go out there and play, see what you can and can't do physically day in and day out. You have to learn the angles.''

The Vidro Watch

As soon as the Yankees acquired Alex Rodriguez for Alfonso Soriano, speculation became rampant that because they needed a second baseman, they would get Jose Vidro from the downsizing Montreal Expos.

''I heard some of that,'' Vidro said. ''But nothing's got in my head yet. I just love to be here now and be part of this organization. This is my last year here. We'll see what happens. These things are left to my agents and Omar Minaya. I'm going to be faithful to the team.''

Minaya, the Expos' general manager, said that Vidro was going nowhere. But if the Expos have a poor season, they may decide to trade Vidro later in the season and get players for him rather than lose him without compensation, as they did when they kept Vladimir Guerrero last season as they tried to win the wild card.

Vidro, who has batted better than .300 in each of his five full seasons in the majors, will be a major member of next winter's free-agent class if he gets that far.

''A lot of teams need second basemen,'' Vidro said. ''If I put the numbers the way I know I'm going to put them, the off-season will be very interesting. But teams aren't going to want to go the whole year without a second baseman, so we'll see what happens.''